bionicle |n.cmpd.| biological chronicle; lit. "chronicle of biology ('the all-living') [bionicle < boyanikul < boya-nai-akul, from boya "biology" (nominalized from bo-ya "to grow, live", see also bo "elemental plant-life; living, growing"), nai "all", and akul "chronicle; lit. "(that which is) seen/known" (< aku-li, from aku "sight, vision" and the adjectival particle -li)] This has gone too far. ._. JRRT
The Language of Okoto Chapter 8 [crosspost] For this post, let’s return to a part of the dataset that we haven’t discussed for a while: the reconstructed element *kui “agent”. Elsewhere, we’ve been successful in breaking down the words toa, ta, okoto by delving into their reconstructed history and making some comparative observations. Let’s see what we can do with *kui, shall we? First, note that the element *kui has been translated only as “agent” thus far, and that this is actually a
The Language of Okoto Chapter 6 [crosspost] In the previous post, we managed to break down the reconstructed term *toua into a few constituent parts and assign meanings to those parts. The element u translated to “skill, ability” and the element -a “general noun marker (person, object, thing)”, but the element to wasn’t fleshed out beyond the idea that it signified something like “greatness” and was somehow connected to the previously established word ta “?hoarding, ?grouping”. This post
[boo] rakha-su-hakha |idm.| trick or treat [From rakha "to trick; lit. 'make smthg. system-abnormal'", su "or (conj.)", and hakha "to treat; lit. 'make smthg. system-normal"] ====================== The origin of this phrase can be found in the development of a relatively recent Matoran holiday, originally celebrated in Metru Nui and later transplanted into the Matoran-Agori culture of Spherus Magna. The holiday began as a memorial marking one of the greatest losses of life that occurred du
This entry, we’ll take a detour into the etymological origins of Bohrok (and associated designations): Bohrok, n.cmpd. “awaiting-commands, vigilant-for-commands; also vigilantly awaiting/following words” boh, stm. “vigilance, watchfulness; awaiting, on-standby, ready-to-respond” oro, n. “word” -ak, p. “intensive particle” orok, n. “order, command; lit. intensive-word” [from oro-ak, oro “word” and -ak “intensive particle”] The deciphering of Bohrok is somewhat difficult, as it was not origi
[ tumblr ya] Treatise: Translating the Avohkii : Part 4 : Whoa, hold on! It’s dangerous to go alone! First, read this, then this, then this. All done? Good – let’s get moving. Here’s the full transcription of the Avohkii-text once again: The bolded part of the transcription has already been translated in the previous posts. To recap: Mapaku ke-whenu-ka kitu ak-ila ... “Reader, seek out an individual originating from within a secret underground (place)” This portion of the passag
LEARNING MATORAN - LESSON 7 - We’re back! Might as well jump right in. This lesson, we’ll be looking at some aspects of the paradigms for nouns and pronouns. It's fun! I promise. I. Nouns and Pronouns: Overview. As you may have guessed, nouns in Matoran are a bit different from typical English nouns. Just like verbs, they are generally made up of a stem and they may take a variety of particles expressing different relationships between the noun and other elements (verbs, other nouns, etc
The Language of Okoto Preface I’m afraid I have indeed succumbed to the secret vice once again. It was probably inevitable, even though the linguistic material incorporated into Generation 2 of Bionicle is admittedly quite a bit less than the material that was available in Generation 1. Ultimately, however, I decided that the lack of material shouldn’t deter creativity, and so this series of posts has grown and expanded to a pretty decent size (roughly 10 posts) over the past month or so.
The Language of Okoto Chapter 3 [crosspost] Now that we’ve taken the first step in breaking down the dataset, it’s time to go a bit further. Recall that, thus far, we’ve decomposed the names ekimu and makuta into eki “maker” plus *mau “mask” (“mask maker”) and *mau “mask” plus kuta “hoarder” (“mask hoarder”). For this post, let’s focus on these newly-derived elements eki and kuta and try to break them down even further. First of all, consider their meanings: “maker” and “hoarder”. Both
MATANUYAMAJAI - THE LEGEND Ivaha vahai, Mata Nui ini-wahi uvoya; Nohi-artakhai akoa, Matoran roya, karaya. In the time before time, The Great Spirit descended from the heavens, Carrying us, the ones called the Matoran, To this island paradise... - Oa kaitura, maitura; Mata Nui i-Haua-Ngavongu, Kaita, Maita, Vaita, Oai takaya. We were separate and without purpose, So the Great Spirit illuminated us With the Thre
The streak continues, but this time with an examination of the meanings and etymologies of various other heretofore un-translated Bionicle names (i.e. not just Kanohi mask-names, although there are a few here and there). I started compiling this, and I came to the conclusion that there’s far too much here to digest in a single entry, so I’ve split it into multiple digestable entries. For now, we’ll begin with those infamous sons of shadow, the Rahkshi: Rahkshi, n.cmpd. “wild/untamable offspr
The Language of Okoto Chapter 5 [crosspost] Let’s continue with the breakdown of the word toa (< *toua). In order to delve a bit deeper, we will need a point of comparison, and I think this can be provided by bringing in the remaining reliably-native word Okoto. Connecting these two terms—one a title and the other the name of an island—might seem tenuous, but with the background we’ve already set up, I’m confident we can make some important headway. However, unlike the previous inst
The Prophecy of Heroes Hear now, my son, what the prophecy says: When times are dark and all hope seems lost, The Protectors must unite, one from each tribe. Evoke the power of past and future, And look to the skies for an answer. When the stars align, six comets will bring timeless heroes To claim the Masks of Power and find the Mask Maker. United, the elements hold the power to defeat evil… United, but not one. Toavakamaja Ro’o, aka
Well, in light of the recent announcement, I thought it would be appropriate to write an entry about the End of Bionicle. Be careful, I may wax poetic here...
As a fan who was there at the beginning, who watched the dawn of Bionicle and reveled in its mythic light, I can say that I am fully satisfied as it comes to an end. Bionicle has had a long and excellent run, and its tenth anniversary is a fitting time to bring things to a close. I look back over the entirety of the universe that Lego
All tests are taken. All papers are presented. All finals are over.
Finally. Long sigh of contentment.
=ll=
Today I've been looking through some topics related to how Teridax (henceforth referred to only as Makuta or The Makuta, since that's really what he is now) will be defeated in 2010, reading some of the different speculations and ideas that members have. While I don't usually spend much time reading speculation anymore (it takes a lot of time...which I don't have), this has really
The Language of Okoto Chapter 4 [crosspost] That’ll do for the names Ekimu and Makuta for the time being. Now let’s turn to another part of the dataset, one word in particular: Toa. I’ve already hinted at how I intend to incorporate this term into the sketch of the Okotoan Language, so might as well get on with it: Assumption: The term toa translates to “master” or “hero”. Where do we go from here? Because we only have one term to look at, there isn’t quite the same opportunity for com
Just a short one today. This entry, we’ll take an even further detour into the etymological origins of Vahki (and associated designations). Somewhat ironic, this being Tax Day. >> Vahki, n.cmpd. “law-keeper; lit. measurer-of-limits” [variant forms vah’ki, vahiki, fanhiki] fa(n), stm. “limit, restriction, range, field; also roof, ceiling, sky” [probably derived from the elemental prefix fa “magnetism; magnetic (field)”; spelling variant pha(n)] hiki, n. “piece/part/portion of (something
This week, being BZP's sixth Anniv., everyone gets a blog. This can be viewed as both a good and bad thing, since although it gives every member the ability to express their personal thoughts on things, it also multiplies the number blogs into the thousands.
So for my blog, if anyone is fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of it in the rushing torrent, I thought I'd go back and take a look at how my spriting has developed over the approx. 3.5 years I've been a part of BZP. Here are the resu
Looks like we've reached the end of this three-installment series. Next MN, I'll have to find something else to talk about. Anyways, this final entry focuses on the words in Group 3, as quoted from MN#4: 3) artakha, artidax, teridax, tren krom, pridak, jaller Group 3: The distinguishing factor for words in Group 3 is simply the presence of the particle ār in some form or another, making Group 3 the least restrictive of Groups 1-3. Any members of the preceding groups could also be included,
My reaction to the end of the first true arc of the Bionicle storyline and the beginning of the next:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «When I first found out about the ultimate resolution of the Toa Nuva's quest, I actually felt quite let down. It happened to be on another website where there were no Bionicle Legends#11 spoiler warnings, and I didn't necessarily intend to spoil it for myself before reading the book. But it happened anyways.
I first felt kind of shocked th
WttV Entry 1.3 It was a hau. It was a Hau. A Kanohi Hau was hanging in the night air before him, huge and spectral. A Hau made of light. The stars seemed to glimmer through its face, through its two huge eyes. They were deep eyes, ancient and tranquil. The pattern of the stars found an order in those eyes. “Wh-who are you?” Takanuva asked, finally finding his voice. His eyes were wide, almost disbelieving the image that hung before him. The shock of seeing such a familiar likeness in
Two entries in one day...isn't that against the rules?!
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Well now, anyways, I've been working on this little project here and there for a long time now, and I think it's starting to come to a complete enough stage that I can post it. As a whole, it's basically my take on the form and history of the "Matoran Language" (in dictionary form). The language itself is called Matoranoro, which is "The Words of Those Who Speak" and also Kuitoronui, which is "The Great Speech".
Rig
So far: two thumbs way way up.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «First off, I want to say Thank You Greg, for skipping the whole Teridax-is-his-real-name thing. Makuta is Makuta and he is The Makuta. That's how he started out, and by Mata Nui that's how he's going to end!
Secondly, and more importantly, I loved the "You have nothing, Makuta. You are nothing." aside. I as an ancient fan highly appreciate the nod to MNOG.
Also: I think that, for the first time since D'anda
